


Eureka Effect

by MissBinx



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Small Town, Angst, Antagonism, Ben Solo has daddy issues, City Boy Ben Solo, Country Girl Rey, Doc Hollywood AU, Doctor Ben Solo, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Feral Rey, Fluff, Hart of Dixie AU, Hot headed lovers, Pining, Quirky townspeople, Redneck Rey, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, Small subplot of Ben/Kaydel, So Much Sexual Tension, Uptight Ben Solo, montana, northern exposure au, will they/won't they
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:13:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27050002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissBinx/pseuds/MissBinx
Summary: When Ben graduates med school, the government agrees to pay off his student loan debt if he serves as a doctor in a small Montana town. A true city boy, he clashes with country girl Rey Johnson immediately -- both completely oblivious to their mounting chemistry.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 38
Kudos: 93
Collections: Ijustfellintothissendhelp





	1. Fortunate Son

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title song is Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival.

“Benjamin Solo!” Leia’s voice barked. “You cannot be serious!” The sound of her nude Manolo Blahnik shoes echoed through his mostly empty Manhattan loft as she paced after him. Placing her hands on her hips, she tapped the pointed toe of her heels against the hardwood and waited for him to speak.

Ben seemed to be ignoring his mother as he plucked books from the shelf -- three thick tomes at a time in his large hands -- and plopped them into a cardboard box.

Leia was undeterred by his silence. “Montana? Are you nuts?”

“Five years and all my loans are paid off,” Ben told her for what felt like the five hundredth time. 

“I will pay off your loans! This is ridiculous!” she cried, throwing her hands in the air in exasperation. She could not, for the life of her, understand what would possess her son to leave New York and go play doctor with a bunch of rednecks in Montana. “I have the money.”

Ben ran a hand through his hair, gritting his teeth and biting back a scathing retort. His temper got him nowhere with Leia Organa and was, in fact, the reason why he’d spent the better part of his youth living with his uncle in Chicago. Luke Skywalker, renowned surgeon, who had performed the first living donor liver transplant -- the same uncle who had inspired him to become a doctor despite their explosive falling out. Like Ben and Luke before him, the Skywalker legacy of medicine included Anakin Skywalker who pioneered artery bypass surgery and worked on developing a functioning artificial heart until his death. 

It wasn’t just the Skywalker men who left large shoes for Ben to fill -- his mother was a force to be reckoned with in her own right. She was the youngest female senator in New York history and had been consistently re-elected every time she ran for office. It was only a matter of time before she would run for president, Ben knew.

And that was why Ben knew that his mother would never understand what it was like living in the shadow of the Skywalker family -- the expectations that had been placed on him for as long as he could remember. How old had he been the first time a stranger had asked him if he would be a doctor or a politician when he grew up?

That legacy was the only reason he’d kept the Solo last name, despite the fact that it had been over ten years since he’d last spoken to his father. At least Han Solo was good for something. 

“Mother,” Ben began, trying to keep his voice even and calm. “As I’ve already explained, I want to do things my own way.”

“You are so stubborn,” Leia huffed. “Just like your father.”

“Can we not talk about Han?” Ben grumbled, shoving another stack of books into the box. He’d never get the box closed at the rate he was piling the books, but now he was working more as a distraction. “I’ve already signed a contract. I’m leaving tomorrow.”

“I can have my lawyers look over the contract and find some way to break it,” Leia said, and it sounded less like an offer and more like a demand.

Ben finally turned to his mother, crossing the room and putting his hands on her shoulders. He leaned in close, looking her straight in the eyes as he told her, “I’m doing this, whether you like it or not.”

Leia swatted his hands from her shoulders and stomped back to the door, “Call me when you need my help getting out of that contract. I give it a week.”

*****

In order to get to Eureka Montana, Ben had flown into Bozeman and from there had taken a greyhound bus to get to the small town. What should have been a few hour trip in any sane place had turned into an all day affair, made worse when the air conditioner stopped working halfway through the trip. Few roads had been cut through the towering mountains and as a result, the few major highways in the state skirted around mountain ranges. It was nearly dark when the bus finally made it to Eureka, only no one had informed Ben that the bus didn’t actually stop in the town of Eureka but rather on the outskirts so as to avoid getting off the highway completely.

Ben had waited at the dropoff point, a dilapidated parking lot of an old 76 gas station that looked like it had been closed longer than he’d been alive, hoping that he could hitch a ride with a passing car but twenty minutes of waiting had led him to the conclusion that no one was driving into Eureka at eight o’clock at night.

So Ben had no choice but to make his way along the highway into the town limits. He’d been hoping to make a good impression, had worn a Tom Ford suit (mistake number one as a wool suit was nowhere near appropriate for Montana in July) and a pair of leather a.testoni oxfords (mistake number two as Ben could feel angry blisters forming along the heels and balls of his feet).

He felt like he’d been walking for hours and he  _ still _ didn’t seem to be getting any closer to the lights of the city when he saw two beams of light coming from a pair of headlights behind him. A rusted out Ford pickup pulled up next to him and a woman with a gentle smile leaned her head out, “What are you doing hoofing it out here in a suit like that?”

“Trying to get to Eureka,” Ben explained, walking to the truck and sticking his head through.

“You must be the new doctor,” she grinned and motioned for him to climb inside. “You can put your suitcase in the back.”

Ben nodded and lifted the heavy luggage into the bed of her pickup and then climbed into the passenger seat. “Thanks. I’m Ben.”

“Rose,” she smiled, “Rose Tico. I heard you were from New York.”

Ben nodded, feeling too tired for small talk but he didn’t want to be rude to the only person that had come along to take him into town. 

“What’s that like?” she asked excitedly. “Can you really just lift your hand and a taxi pulls up? Have you been to the Statue of Liberty? I bet the coffee there is really good. Oh and I always wondered, what exactly is shmear? Is it just cream cheese?”

The small woman rattled off question after question, not giving Ben a chance to answer, but she didn’t seem to really  _ want  _ an answer so he let her continue on her line of questioning, tuning her out as she turned onto the main street. He supposed that some might consider the town quaint and old west looking, but Ben could only notice the paint peeling off the sides of buildings, rotting wood log store fronts, one store that sold men’s wear -- all flannels if the window front was any indication -- and a bar restaurant called Trapper’s Saloon.

He tried not to let the disdain show on his face, but he could already tell he was in for a very, very long five years.  _ If _ he lasted that long.

“So where am I dropping you?” she asked.

Ben paused, wondering what she meant. He hadn’t arranged anywhere to stay. He’d been told that it would all be taken care of and he’d trusted that to be the case. He should have known when he arrived and no one had been there to meet him. He pinched the bridge of his nose and tried not to sigh, “I guess to the closest hotel?”

“Do you have a reservation?” Rose asked, frowning a bit.

“Do I need one?” Ben asked, unable to imagine a hotel being booked up on a weeknight in Podunk, USA.

“Well, it’s just that Poe’s engagement party is this week and there’s a lot of people in town…” Rose’s reply left a lot to be desired in the way of an explanation.

“So there are no vacancies?” Ben surmised, trying his hardest not to let his simmering anger overflow.

“Right.” Rose had the decency to look sheepish, probably sensing that Ben was upset with the situation. “Oh! But I know! I’ll take you to see Poe.”

That was the second time the name came up and Ben had the impression that whoever Poe was, he was an important person in the small town. “Sure. Why not?” Ben said, sighing as Rose turned off the main street and took a dirt road up the steep mountainside.

Rose turned on her high beams and glanced at Ben out of the corner of her eye. “He’ll be real happy to meet you. We haven’t had a doctor in town in… gosh… twenty years? Yep, at least that. We’ve all just been driving down to Whitefish but that’s tough in the winter, you know?”

“Sure,” Ben said noncommittally. This talkative little woman was going to wear on his last nerve, he could tell already. Deep breaths, he told himself over and over. It wouldn’t be good for him to lose it on his first day in town.

“Here we go,” Rose hummed happily, pulling into what appeared to be an old resort -- there was one large hewn-log A-frame building with a front porch and several smaller cabins peppering the forested lot behind it. Maybe it had been nice at one time, but it clearly hadn’t been an operational resort in years. 

Rose turned off the engine and hopped out and Ben realized he had no choice but to follow. He still wasn’t sure what was going on because Rose had never given him an explanation, despite talking his ear off.

“Rose Tico!” Ben looked up as a man with dark curls stepped onto the front porch, his arms stretched wide and a friendly grin on his face. “What brings you up to my neck of the woods?”

“I brought you a present,” she said, gesturing at Ben.

“Oh… didn’t know I ordered a giant grumpy man,” Poe joked as he walked towards Ben, holding his hand out. “Poe Dameron.”

“Ben Solo,” Ben said through gritted teeth. He was sure the vein on his forehead was twitching in thinly veiled anger because he could feel that distinct throb between his eyebrows.

“So…” Poe plunged his hands in his pockets, rocking on the heels of his feet. “What can I do for you, Ben Solo?”

“He’s the doctor,” Rose explained before he could even open his mouth. “Found him walking along the highway and figured with the suit it had to be him. This is so exciting. He even  _ smells  _ like New York. Not that I know what New York smells like. I’ve never been. Never been outside of Montana, actually. But I’d love to go! Maybe you could recommend --”

“Thanks Rose,” Poe cut her off, sending a smirk at Ben who was just watching Rose have an entire conversation on her own. “Anyway. What’s he doing here?”

“I’m sorry,” Ben ground out. He’d been trying hard all day to be positive but the bus ride from hell and then his walk and then Rose’s blathering and now this. Ben was  _ tired _ . He didn’t know if he ever felt quite this tired in his entire life, including the allnighters he’d pulled in medical school and the on-call shifts during his internship. “I was told I would have accommodations set up. That someone would pick me up from the bus stop.”

“Oh. Bro, you’re definitely going to need a car out here,” Poe snickered unhelpfully.

“Thank you  _ very much _ ,” Ben spat, as if he hadn’t already realized that fact hours ago. He didn’t have a car in New York -- they were expensive and inconvenient. “Now can one of you take me to the mayor so I can…” Ben trailed off as Rose and Poe exchanged a look.

“Poe Dameron. Mayor. At your service,” he held out his hand with a shit-eating grin.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Ben grumbled. “You’re incompetant.”

“Hey!” Rose cried indignantly on Poe’s behalf.

Poe, meanwhile, just laughed good-naturedly. He slung an arm around Ben’s shoulders. “I’ll get you all set up, Benny.”

“It’s Ben,” he practically growled, shrugging Poe’s arm off. He was well and mad now, but knew it wouldn’t do him any good to explode. He’d take any accommodations at this point -- all he wanted was a hot shower, some food and a good night’s sleep. He could deal with this shithole town and its useless mayor in the morning.

Poe waved Rose off and led Ben towards the largest cabin in a copse of trees behind the main building. “I don’t have the resort quite up and running yet. I actually only have one cabin right now with electricity and running water.”

There were already lights on and as Ben drew closer he realized that the large cabin was actually quartered off into two cabins each with their own front entrance on the wrap around porch. “Rey’s living on the left side, but you’ll have the right side to yourself.”

Ben didn’t know who Rey was but he found that he didn’t really care as he climbed up the creaky steps. He wasn’t planning on staying for long -- he’d make sure that Poe set him up somewhere more appropriate. And he’d get himself a car in the morning too. “Thanks,” Ben said, and it came out much more sarcastically than it sounded.    
  
“Anytime,” Poe cheerfully replied, as if he hadn’t heard the disdain dripping from Ben’s words. “Oh, and I’ll have Kaydell bring some food up,” Poe hopped off the porch and waved as Ben wrenched the door to his cabin open, noting that there was no lock. “Oh by the way, watch out for Bee Bee!” he called and Ben didn’t get a chance to ask what the hell a Bee Bee was before Poe was out of sight.

He turned back towards his lodgings, stepped into the dark cabin and the first thing he noted was the stale air in the room. He’d need to open the windows, he thought as he ran his hands along the walls, cursing loudly when a sliver of wood wormed its way under his ring finger. He sucked the finger in his mouth, attempting to work the wooden shard out as his other hand finally found the light switch.

There were sheets over the furniture but he could tell that there was a couch and a shelf along the left wall and a kitchen along the right. A small ladder led up to a loft where Ben could only assume the bed was located and a door at the back side indicated a bathroom.

First things first, Ben opened the windows and whipped the dusty sheets off of his furniture. Then he wheeled his suitcase to the bathroom, deciding to let the room air out on its own while he showered. The prospect of a long, hot bath was enough to put him in a good mood so he stripped down and stepped under the showerhead, turning the handle all the way to the right in hopes of the hottest water known to mankind, and was instead treated to an ice cold spray.

“HOLY FUCK!” he yelled, jumping out of the shower and tying a towel around his waist. “That’s cold!” He held his hand under the water, waiting to see if it got hotter and then twisted the knob in the other direction to see if maybe the setting were wrong. No luck.

He yanked open the door, prepared to go give Poe hell when he saw a woman standing in his doorway. She had on a pair of cutoff jean shorts, a pair of worn cowboy boots and a thin gray tank top, no bra underneath. He was a man, afterall, and it was hard not to stare and he didn’t lift his head until she crossed her arms over her chest. “Who are you?” she asked, glaring at him.

He was too busy focusing on her breasts, but now he was focusing on her chestnut hair, thrown up into a messy bun and her angry hazel eyes, wrinkled nose dusted with freckles and pretty pink lips pulled into a scowl. She was like an oasis in the desert, the first pretty thing he’d seen in this town and yet he was the source of her disapproval. “Uh, Ben. Ben Solo.”

“What are you doing here? Does Poe know?” She asked, narrowing her eyes and letting herself into his cabin uninvited.

“Yeah, I’m the new doctor. You must be Rey then?” he asked, nodding towards their shared wall.

“Yep,” she agreed, seeming to forget about her lack of underwear as she dropped her crossed arms. Her eyes dropped to his bare chest and Ben suddenly remembered that he was wearing nothing but a towel. And… had she licked her lips. Her eyes darted back up to his.

He must have been imagining things. “Great, maybe you can help me,” he said. “Uh, I have no hot water.”

“Oh. Yeah. I used it all.”

“You… used it all?” Ben asked.

“I have to shower before work,” she shrugged, like she didn’t see a problem with the situation.

“And you used  _ all _ the hot water?” Ben asked, starting to get angry. He knew it was irrational, but this was just the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“How was I supposed to know you wanted to shower? I’m not a mind reader. I didn’t even know you were over here until you started screaming like a little girl.”

“What’s going on?” a voice asked from the doorway and Ben turned his attention towards where a short blonde woman was holding a plate of food.

“Why don’t you ask this baby?” Rey rolled her eyes, gesturing at Ben.

“Oh, Poe didn’t tell you that the hot water heater doesn’t work great? Yeah there’s enough lukewarm water for one shower,” the blonde woman laughed and let herself in, putting a plate on the counter. “I’m Kaydel. You can call me Kay though,” she held out her hand and Ben shook it.

“Hmm, not sure how Poe would feel about you alone in here with Tarzan,” Rey eyed Ben in his lack of dress.

“I’ll uh, get dressed,” he shuffled to the bathroom and opened his suitcase, grabbing a tshirt and pair of jeans. When he came out, Kaydel and Rey were whispering to each other, and Rey shot him one last look before leaving through the open door.

“I just came by to bring you food,” she said with a small smile, nodding at the counter.

Ben went to the plate, lifting the saran wrap off. Country fried steak and french fries weren’t exactly something he would order for himself -- heart attacks ran in his family -- but it smelled so good that his mouth was already watering. “Thank you so much.” He couldn’t even wait, plucking a fry from the plate and popping it into his mouth.

“So what brings you to Eureka?” she asked, leaning against the counter and watching him devour the pile of fries.

“You guys need a doctor, I need to pay off my loans,” Ben shrugged. Maybe his reasons weren’t altruistic, but they didn’t  _ need  _ to be. He wasn’t going to lie and pretend that he wanted to be here.

“I went to school in New York,” she said and Ben looked up from his plate, noticing her for the first time. She wasn’t as striking as Rey, but maybe that was because she was wearing a pair of proper jeans and a buttoned pink cardigan.

“Really?” Ben asked with interest. Maybe he’d finally met someone civilized. He liked that she was quiet and unobtrusive. She didn’t talk his ear off like Rose, had more brains than Poe and more class than Rey. She seemed… normal.

“Yep, I went to Barnard. Art degree,” she added.

“What brought you back here?” Ben asked curiously.

Kaydel shrugged, “Life I guess. I miss it though. It's so quiet here that it's hard to fall asleep. You know?”

Ben nodded, wondering how he was going to fall asleep without the sounds of traffic outside. “Do you think you’ll go back?”

She shook her head, “Nah.” She didn’t say anything else. “I guess I should just leave you to it then.”

“It was nice meeting you, Kay. Thanks for dinner,” he said, nodding down at the plate.

She smiled at him and nodded and Ben couldn’t help but think that there was something charming about her, maybe she reminded him of home.

*****

Ben had been so sure that he would fall right asleep as soon as he got home, but he found that wasn’t the case at all. The cabin smelled too musty, the mattress was stiff and lumpy and Kaydel had a point when she’d said it was too quiet to sleep -- he couldn’t hear anything through the open window except crickets in the distance. Even after Ben found some white noise on youtube, he still couldn’t fall asleep.

“A drink,” he grumbled, throwing his blankets off and turning on his light. He hobbled down the ladder from his loft and crossed the tiny living room to the kitchen, yanking open cabinet doors in hopes of finding some booze.

He had no such luck, but now that the idea of a nice stiff drink was in his head, he couldn’t shake it. He found his sneakers and slipped into them before pulling the cabin door open, wondering if Poe had anything but deciding it wasn’t worth risking spending time with the moron just to get a drink.

He remembered the drive up the hill hadn’t been a long one and there’d been a saloon on the edge of town right before the turnoff. He shoved his hands in his pockets and took off down the hill, wondering briefly how he was going to get back up, especially after a couple of drinks.

He’d worry about that later. 

The walk didn’t take any time at all, and as he walked across the gravel parking lot towards Trapper’s Saloon, Ben realized that it must have been  _ the _ place to be at night. He pulled open the door, coughing at the cigarette smoke and made his way to the bar.

He’d noticed, of course, how every head in the bar had turned to watch him and he told himself that it was just because he was the new guy in town -- not because he’d wandered into some dangerous biker bar. Right?

No sooner had he taken a seat at the bar than a voice cried, “Well, look who it is?”

Ben looked up and saw Rey, noticing that at some point she’d taken her hair out of the bun and now it tumbled in soft curls at her shoulders. She was just as pretty in the dim light as she’d been earlier, and Ben swallowed, telling himself not to look at her perky little breasts this time. “Can I get a bourbon neat, please?”

“Depends,” Rey said, leaning against the counter.

“On what?” Ben sighed. “I’ve had a long day and I just really want a drink.”

Rey brought her face closer, “You see, Plutt says I need to water down the drinks.”

“Who’s Plutt?” Ben asked, eyeing her warily.

“The owner,” she shrugged. “So if you want a really strong drink…”

“How much?” Ben inquired, not liking the fact that he was being cheated.

“Twenty for the cheap stuff, Fifty for top shelf,” Rey grinned.

  
“Fifty dollars?” Ben cried incredulously. “You want me to pay you fifty dollars for a drink?”

“Well, I would have made it thirty but you were so rude to me earlier…” Rey said, grabbing a glass from the counter and a bottle of amber liquid. She knew he would pay her for it. “And I know you weren’t planning on tipping me so we’ll just consider tip included.”

Ben narrowed his eyes, “I would have tipped you.”

“Great,” Rey smiled. “Then I’ll expect a tip on top of the fifty.” She held out her hand and waited until Ben begrudgingly put a bill onto her palm. “Pleasure doing business with you, doc.”

Ben glared but took a sip of his bourbon, relaxing into his barstool. At least she hadn’t cheated him -- this really was the good stuff. He watched as Rey worked and it didn’t go unnoticed how popular she was with the customers: she seemed to know what to say, who to smile at, and he’d even seen her push out her braless chest at more than a few eager men. Ben wondered how much money she went home with every night.

She didn’t talk to him again, despite his strange hope that she would, though she did stop by and fill his glass twice more without charging him another cent. 

He left her another fifty on the counter as he stumbled out of the bar a couple of hours later.

Making it up the hill was every bit as difficult as he’d thought it would be and he almost wished he’d stayed at Trapper’s and asked someone for a ride. He was halfway up, stumbling along the way -- partly because he was drunk and partly because it was pitch black outside -- when he fell onto his ass. He could get up, keep going, but he decided that he really didn’t feel like it.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been sitting there when suddenly he was caught in a pair of headlights. “Well well, long time no see, doc,” Rey’s cheerful voice called from inside the car as she rolled the windows down.

A 1979 Pontiac Firebird, black with a huge gold bird painted on the hood. Ben was more than familiar with this car because his father had had one. A junky piece of shit. Clearly the choice car for every lowlife in America. He just grunted at Rey in response, not in the mood.

“Need a ride?” She reached over and pulled up the locking mechanism and swung the door open for him.

Ben lifted himself from the ground, sliding into her car begrudgingly. He needed to get to bed and he clearly wasn’t going to make it uphill on his own. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” she said, shifting the car into gear for uphill. Ben rolled his eyes -- of course she drove a manual shift. God, his dad would love this woman. She was silent as she drove them back to Poe’s shitty resort and Ben tried not to focus on how her shorts had ridden up to the point that he could count a trail of freckles leading to the crease of her thighs. She pulled into the lot and put the car into park. “Like what you see, doc?”

Ben blinked and glanced up to her face, he’d expected her to be mad -- he’d been caught staring, afterall -- but her expression was tinged with mutual interest and as soon as their eyes met, she reached forward, grabbing him by the back of the neck and pulling her in for a kiss.

Ben slid closer on the leather seat and Rey crawled out of the driver seat and into Ben’s lap, straddling him as her lips parted. Ben’s tongue met hers and he noted that she tasted like sweet tea. He didn’t remember a kiss ever quite this sloppy, tongues and panting breath, but he found that he liked it. There was something almost wild in the way she kissed -- completely different than the orderly way sexual encounters had previously been for him. 

His hands slid up her stomach and rib cage and one of his fingers brushed the underside of her breast, causing her to gasp into the kiss and then she took his bottom lip between her teeth, tugging as his thumb flicked her nipple. He remembered how they’d looked in her little top, wondered if they were stiff and pointed, if he could find and suck them through the ribbed fabric…

And then her phone rang, blasting Rambling Man by the Allman Brothers Band and Ben remembered all the times he’d heard his dad playing this song growing up and just like that, he pushed Rey away. “Shit.”

“What’s wrong?” Rey asked, blinking as Ben pushed her off the lap and opened the door.

“This was a mistake,” he panted, climbing out of the car. How many times had he thought of his dad since he’d met Rey? The same pompous attitude, the same lack of class, the same car and that  _ fucking song _ . And ode to a man who knows nothing but running off. What did it say about him that he was here in the car, making out with the female version of his ne'er do well father.

“What the fuck, Ben?” Rey said, climbing out after him..

He ignored her, going into his side of the cabin and shutting the door. He leaned against it, not missing the way she’d spat, “Asshole!” at his door before slamming her own.

Yeah, his mother had been right about this being a mistake, but Ben thought maybe she was being generous in her estimate of how long it would take to give up. There was no way he’d last a week here.

  
*****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know. I should ~~not~~ be starting another WIP. But I haven't been able to stop thinking about this idea since I've had it. I won't abandon the other fics I have going, I promise!
> 
> Follow me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/jeeaysee0925)because I sometimes ask which story to update!


	2. I Won't Back Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title song is I Won't Back Down by Tom Petty

Ben woke up to the rather insistent ringing of his cellphone and in his mind, he was still in his New York apartment, so when he sat up, he wasn’t expecting to crack his forehead against the low, angled ceiling in his lofted sleeping area. “Fuck,” he cursed loudly, falling out of his bed and scrambling down the ladder. The sharp pain in his forehead was only accentuated by the raging hangover he was currently suffering from.

There were no outlets in the loft, so Ben had been forced to leave his phone plugged in downstairs in the kitchen. A string of expletives continued rushing forth as he landed, uncoordinated, on the floor at the bottom of the ladder and when he finally reached the phone, he scowled. “Mother,” he greeted, putting his phone on speaker as he rummaged through the cabinet to look for a cup. Clearly, he’d need to buy some. And a coffee maker while he was at it.

“Benjamin. Are you ready to come home yet?”

The honest answer to that question was a resounding yes, but Ben would never admit how much he hated it in Eureka. He finally managed to find a plastic cup on top of the refrigerator and after rinsing it thoroughly, he downed an entire glassful of water before answering. “I already told you that I’m not coming home.”

“You get your stubborn streak from your father, you know,” Leia complained.

Ben rolled his eyes, “Yeah because there is no stubbornness at all on the Skywalker side, right?” His mother and uncle were perhaps two of the most stubborn people he knew. He could only take his word for Han’s personality as Ben hardly knew his own father from any other stranger.

“That smartass attitude is his too,” she added. “Are you sure you don’t want me to book you a plane ticket? You could be back in town by 6 and I have reservations at Balthazar…”

Ben’s stomach grumbled loudly at the thought and he was tempted to say fuck it and take her up on the offer. He had his pride, yes, but it was about more than that. It was about more than money. When it came down to it, Ben needed to be his own person. He didn’t want a career where he piggybacked off the skills of his uncle and his grandfather, nor did he want his mother micromanaging his entire life the way she had since he was born.

He wanted to make his own decisions and be responsible for his mistakes -- and if moving to the buttcrack of America was a mistake, well then he’d own up to it and grow from it. “As lovely as that sounds, mother, I do have a job here.”

Leia sighed dramatically and said, “Call me when you get tired of being so damn hard headed.”

“Will do,” Ben said, sarcasm and annoyance leaking into his voice before he hung up the phone. The thought of food -- good food from Balthazar -- had his stomach roiling. He needed something in his belly and then maybe his headache would go away. Pulling the refrigerator door open, Ben was sorely disappointed to find nothing inside.

After checking the cupboards as well, he came to the conclusion that there was not one scrap of food inside the entire cabin. Ben sighed, running a hand through his hair, and decided that he would have to venture out to find the nearest grocery store or diner. He opened his suitcase and after fishing out a pair of jeans and a henley shirt, he threw them on. 

As soon as he opened the door, he remembered that he didn’t have a car. Which would mean walking down the large hill into town and back again. He was almost ready to go back inside and just sleep, when the door to the adjoining cabin opened and Rey sauntered out.

“Doc,” she said coolly.

Ben’s face flushed as he remembered what had happened the previous night. They’d made out like teenagers in Rey’s car. God, he’d even felt her up. He couldn’t even go one night without embarrassing himself.

He gave her a nod, trying not to focus on her skin tight black jeans or the CCR t-shirt she had on, and he especially didn’t notice the way she’d chosen to forgo a bra yet again. 

“Heading to town?” She asked, pulling her keys out of her pocket and twirling them around her finger.

“I guess,” Ben answered tersely, wondering if she would offer him a ride again and if he’d say yes.

“Have a nice walk,” she smirked and bounced down the steps, seeming to purposely sway her hips to draw his attention to her ass.

Ben scowled as he watched Rey climb into her car and turn on the stereo, blasting her music as she backed down the driveway. He figured it was safe to say that she was still angry about what had happened the night before. “Great,” he sighed, kicking at the rocks as he made his way down the driveway.

“BEN! Buddy!” A voice called as he neared the road leading to town and he turned to find Poe, sauntering out of his house in a silk bathrobe.

“Morning,” Ben said, trying to be cordial as he silently judged the townspeople of Eureka and their inability to dress properly in public.

“Where ya headed off to?” he asked, jogging across the gravel driveway and Ben’s nose wrinkled as his bathrobe came undone, revealing a bare chest and a pair of flannel pajama pants with black bears all over.

“Trying to find breakfast,” Ben answered, pointing over his shoulder.

“Ah, I’ll come with you,” he offered, finally catching up with Ben.

“Uh, shouldn’t you get dressed first?”

Poe waved his hand dismissively, “Nah…”

Ben blinked, wondering how normal this was for Poe. “But… don’t you need shoes?”

Poe grinned and wiggled his feet, which were currently sheather in a pair of furry slippers. “What? You don’t like my slippers?”

Ben didn’t know how to answer the question without being rude, so he tried once again to persuade Poe into changing, “Are they going to let you in with no shirt?”

Poe shrugged and tied his robe shut. “I’m the mayor. I can do whatever I want.”

The walk to the restaurant was filled with Poe’s inane chattering. He’d pointed out every person’s house as if Ben knew each person and would remember who lived where. When they arrived in town, Poe walked towards the diner and held the door open for him. 

“Poe!” Everyone in the restaurant turned to greet the mayor as he walked in, and if capacity was any judge, the entire town seemed to be dining in the cafe this morning.

Poe bowed to the people and walked to the counter, seating himself. “Come on, Benny. Breakfast on me!”

Ben cringed at the nickname but took a seat on the stool next to Poe, trying to ignore the fact that he was having breakfast in public with a man wearing teddy bear pajamas and a Hugh Hefner robe.

A small dark-haired woman came over, dressed in the type of robin’s egg blue collared dress uniform that he’d only ever seen waitresses wear on tv shows. “Who’s your friend, Poe?”

Poe wrapped an arm around Ben’s shoulders as the waitress placed menus in front of each of them. “Hey Jess. This is Ben. The new town doctor.”

“Oh,” Jess leaned on the counter and twirled a lock of hair around her finger. “Do you have a girlfriend, doctor?”

“Jess, he just got in town. Let him play the field a little, first before you try roping him in,” Poe teased and Jess blushed. 

“I’m just curious!” she said, looking at Ben hungrily. “Besides, there’s only a couple of single girls in town. Me and Rose and I guess Rey now too,” Jess listed off on her fingers.

Ben wrinkled his nose at the selection, trying his best not to show too much disappointment in the lack of choices. He reckoned he’d spend his time in Eureka single. “I’m just focusing on work,” he answered diplomatically and then changed the subject as he turned to Poe. “Maybe you could show me the clinic after breakfast?”

“No problem, buddy,” Poe agreed jovially. “Jess, I’ll have the biscuits and gravy.”

“And for you, doctor?” Jess asked with a flirtatious smile. It seemed that his rebuff had done nothing to deter her.

“Um, I’ll have the eggs benedict,” Ben said, handing the menu back. “And the biggest cup of coffee you have.”

“Coming right up,” she curtsied, and fluttered her eyelashes at Ben before heading towards the swinging kitchen doors.

Poe chuckled, “Yeah, you’re going to have your choice of girls, my friend. And Jessika is really great. She does this thing she calls the sit and spin that will blow your mind. Just wait…” Poe wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Ben frowned, wondering how Poe knew what moves Jessika made in the bedroom when he was engaged to Kaydel, but chose not to comment.

“Come on,” Poe nudged his shoulder then. “She’s not your type? How about Rose then?”

Ben shuddered, imagining trying to sleep with a woman who talked non-stop. “I don’t think so. She’s very… talkative.”

The mayor’s eyes twinkled with humor at Ben’s assessment and he continued on, “You have your eye on Rey, then?”

Ben’s face turned red, he was one hundred percent sure, but he would never admit to anyone what had happened between them. “Absolutely not.”

“Hmm,” Poe said, not quite believing him. “Well, maybe that’s for the best. She’s kind of a mess. I love the girl, but she’s… wild.”

“No kidding,” Ben said, smiling at Jessika as she set a huge bowl-sized mug in front of him. “Thanks.”

When breakfast finally came to the table, Ben felt grateful for the distraction from Poe’s badgering. He didn’t want to talk about women or his love life and especially not Rey. He dug into his food right away and as much as he wanted to doubt the cuisine of smalltown Montana -- afterall, how could it compare to the food in New York? -- he was in heaven with his first bite of his eggs benedict.

“Good right?” Poe grinned.

An old man at the end of the counter, swayed, almost falling off his barstool as he struggled to stay upright. In the time since they’d entered the dinner, Ben had been watching with fascination as the man ate a large stack of pancakes, biscuits with gravy and a piece of cherry pie.

“Who’s that?” Ben asked, nodding towards the man.

“Lor San Tekka,” Poe explained with a roll of his eyes. “Town drunk.”

“Hmm,” Ben said, watching as the eldery citizen sat at the opposite end of the counter.

“What are you looking at?” the man asked, tottering on his chair as he glared at Ben.

“Maybe you should lay off the drink before breakfast, Lor,” Poe suggested with an eye roll.

“How many times do I have to tell you, I’m not drunk.”

“Sure,” Poe rolled his eyes and shook his head at Ben.

After finishing up his breakfast, Ben pulled out his wallet (Poe had conveniently left his at home “in his other pajama pants”), and let the town mayor lead him from the diner. “Your office is right down the street.”

Poe marched him down the street and several townspeople stopped to greet the mayor along the way, not one blinking an eye as their fearless leader trudged down main street in his PJs. As they passed by the hardware store, Ben peered in to see a familiar face stocking the shelves -- Rey. 

She turned to look out the window and when she noticed him staring, she lifted a hand and gave him the finger. He rolled his eyes and mouthed, “Mature.”

During the day, she worked at the hardware store and at night, the local tavern. He wondered briefly when she found time to sleep but realized that he really didn’t care. He didn’t like her and she clearly felt the same way.

Ben followed after Poe, who opened the door to the clinic and led him in. At first, Ben thought that it was worrisome that the door to a clinic had been left unlocked, but upon entering, Ben knew it was because there was nothing worth stealing inside.

  
There was no computer at the front desk, and when Ben questioned it, Poe had explained that the last town doctor had used old fashioned paper and file cabinets to keep all of her patient information in order. Ben was horrified as he walked to the filing cabinet behind the counter and pulled a drawer open, finding yellowed papers inside and dust on every surface.

They couldn’t have at least gotten the place cleaned up for his arrival. “We’ll need a computer.”

“You must have one,” Poe suggested and Ben gave him a look. “What? We don’t have funds for a computer!”

“We  _ need  _ a computer. This isn’t a safe way to keep patient information and if anything else, we need to be billing insurance companies electronically,” Ben said, ignoring Poe’s protests as he started straightening up the reception desk. “Oh and I’ll need a receptionist as well.”

“What for?” Poe frowned.

“To get patients checked in. To do the billing and coding,” Ben said as if it were obvious.

Poe walked towards Ben, watching him clean while never lifting a finger to help. “You can’t do all that?”

“No. I didn’t go to medical school to do a receptionist’s job.” He would not budge on this. Poe would have to find a way to fit it into the budget, but he needed staff to have a functioning doctor’s office.

Poe sighed and pushed himself off the counter. “I guess I’ll see what I can do. I’m sure I’ll find someone.” 

Ben waved Poe off and continued cleaning up the office. The town of Eureka clearly didn’t have a lot of income and he doubted they would pay to reupholster the chairs (which were covered in burnt orange naugahyde that Ben was positive was older than him) or repaint the turquoise colored walls. 

He supposed that he could put money in where he could -- if he was going to be spending the next five years in this dump, he might as well improve it somehow.

Ben worked tirelessly over the next few hours. The first hour was spent dusting every surface and when that was done, he swept the floors. Early afternoon was spent reorganizing the filing cabinet and throwing out old medical supplies. He’d need that computer as soon as possible so that he could enter data and order new supplies.

He was in the middle of making a list of everything that would need to get done when the door opened and Ben looked up, expecting to see his first patient of the day. Instead, he was greeted by Poe, who had at some point managed to put on actual clothes. “How’s it going, Benny?”

“Fine. Did you find me a receptionist?” Ben asked.

“I tried,” Poe began and lifted a hand to scratch his head. “You see, we don’t have a lot of people in town looking for jobs. And the one person who is, well, she refuses to work here.”

“Why?”

“Because she says you’re an uptight virgin,” Poe snickered.

“What? I am not,” Ben refuted, offended by the insult. He didn’t want to let Poe in on why she thought that of him, so he changed the subject, “I wouldn’t have hired her anyway.”

“Why not? Rey’s a hard worker.”

“You have to wear a bra to work at a doctor’s office,” Ben interrupted and Poe grinned in response.

“So you noticed her little ti--”

“Ahem, should the town mayor really be discussing his constituents’... breasts?” Ben cut him off before he could finish his vulgar thought.

Poe rolled his eyes. “I’ll keep asking around, but don’t hold your breath, Benny. You’d be better off trying to make up with Rey for whatever you did wrong.”

He hadn’t done anything to wrong her -- other than ending the embarrassingly high school-esque make out session they’d had. Poe didn’t need to know that, so he simply answered, “I didn’t do anything.”

“Uh-huh. Well, for the time being, you’ll have to make do without a receptionist,” Poe informed him. “So how many patients have you had today?”

“None,” Ben declared. Honestly, he’d been worried about it, but with no other staff and plenty of cleaning up to do, he was just considering himself lucky that he wasn’t bombarded on his first day in the office. 

“Hmm,” Poe frowned. “None? That’s no good…” His gaze shifted out the window and his face suddenly lit up. “Hold on!”

Ben watched as Poe pulled the door open. “Mrs. D’Acy!”

A woman with curly blonde hair waved and crossed the street towards the clinic and Poe held the door open for her. “Hello,” she said politely.

“Ben, this is Mrs. D’Acy. And Mrs. D’Acy, this is the new doctor Ben Solo,” Poe introduced. Ben shook the woman’s hand and Poe continued. “Mrs. D’Acy’s son is diabetic. Isn’t it nice that we have a doctor in town now to help with --”

“Oh, I’m so sorry. It’s nice that you’re here, but I already have a doctor down in Kalispell and I’d hate to change Charlie’s routine. I’m sure you understand, Dr. Solo.”

“Of course,” Ben agreed, purely on a polite scale. He couldn’t imagine what reason a parent would drive over an hour each way to treat an ill child with a perfectly capable doctor just down the street. That was why he’d moved to town, afterall.

“I have to get going now. It was nice meeting you.” With a friendly wave, she left the clinic.

Poe turned to Ben, a grimace on his face. “Tough break. But I’m sure you’ll have patients soon enough.” His cellphone chose that moment to ring and he stood to excuse himself. “I’ll talk to you later, bud.”

Ben walked Poe out and sighed, hoping that Poe was right. He needed patients to keep his job. Besides that, he wanted to help people. What was the point of all of that schooling if he didn’t get to use it?

Ben waited in his office until the sun began to set and then he left a note on the door with his cellphone number in case a patient needed him in a pinch. On his walk home, he passed Trapper’s Saloon and talked himself into turning around to go in. Not because he knew Rey might be there -- no, he didn’t care to see her again. But if he went home now, he’d have nothing to eat. He was going for dinner, that was all.

As he made his way up to the counter, he noticed that Rey was, in fact, working. She sent him a glare as she carried a tray of icy beers to a table in the corner and he couldn’t help noticing that she’d traded in her jeans for a pair of cut off shorts. 

Deciding to ignore her, or at least look away before she caught him staring at her legs, he headed to the counter and took a seat on a stool. A quick glance to his right, he realized that he was once again sitting by Lor San Tekka, who was currently eating what had to be the largest plate of spaghetti he’d ever seen.

Rey made her way behind the counter and glared at Ben, “What do you want?”

“Uh…” the look she was giving him was terrifying enough that rather than asking for a menu, he simply pointed a thumb towards Lor and said, “Spaghetti?”

Rey rolled her eyes and stomped off and Ben wasn’t sure if she was actually going to bring him food or not. Less than five minutes later, his question was answered as Rey brought out his food in a styrofoam box and set it down in front of him. “Take it and get out,” she snapped. 

Ben looked down at his food and hesitated.

“I didn’t spit on it,” she rolled her eyes. “I’m just tired of looking at your ugly face.”

“What’s your problem?” Ben asked, glaring. “You’re acting like a child just because I didn’t want to sleep with you.”

Rey scoffed, “Sure you didn’t. That’s why you’ve been staring at my tits since you met me?”

“I wasn’t staring. Maybe if you wore a bra like a normal --”

Their conversation was cut short as Lor San Tekka fell out of his floor and collapsed onto the floor. “Fucking drunk,” someone muttered as they walked past, nudging the old man out of the way with their foot.

Ben leapt out of his chair and knelt on the floor, rolling Lor San Tekka onto his back. He leaned over the old man, checking for a pulse.

“Is he okay?” Rey asked, scrambling around the counter.

Ben nodded and leaned close to sniff the man’s breath. Alcohol. “He’s drunk,” Ben said.

“He isn’t. I haven’t served him a drop all night,” Rey insisted. “And he’s been here for almost two hours.”

Ben hummed in thought. It wasn’t unusual for a heavy alcoholic to have so much alcohol in their system that it could last several hours. What  _ was _ unusual was for an alcoholic to still be so drunk after having such a large plate of pasta. Ben had thought the old man must have a remarkable metabolism to have been so blatantly drunk after his large breakfast but now he was wondering if it was a coincidence at all. “Was he drunk when he came in?”

Rey shook her head, “No. He seemed fine. He always comes in on Tuesdays. He used to come in with his wife and he kept the tradition going after she passed away last year.”

The old man shook Ben away and tried sitting up, “I’m fine…”

“Sir,” Ben began. “Do you feel like this after you have a big meal?”

The man nodded, looking at Ben. 

“Especially stuff like this? Or the pancakes you had at breakfast?” Ben pressed.

He nodded again, this time more enthusiastically and Ben had the impression that no one had ever asked him or tried to figure out what was wrong with him. They all passed him off as an old drunk. “I think I know what’s wrong.”

Rey helped Ben haul the old man back into the stool. “What is it?”

“It’s called auto-brewery syndrome,” Ben explained. It was rare, especially a case so severe, but it matched his symptoms. “It’s all the carbs you’re eating. Your body has been fermenting all of those carbs in your stomach into ethanol, causing your blood alcohol level to increase. You’re drunk, but not on liquor.”

Lor San Tekka’s eyes watered and he hiccuped before slurring his words as he tried to explain, “I tried telling my doctor I wasn’t drinking. But no one believed me.”

Ben awkwardly patted his shoulder. Bedside manner was not his forte, but Rey seemed to be doing a good job as she rubbed his back soothingly. “For now, just sleep it off, ok? I’ll bring you some oral antifungals and that should clear up the problem. You’ll need to ease up on the carbs too, ok? More vegetables.” He looked to Rey, “Does he have someone to bring him home?”

“I’ll do it,” Rey offered and Ben nodded. 

“Can you leave work?”

Rey waved her hand, “Plutt can bite me if he has a problem with it. Come on, Lor. Let’s get you home.”

“Thank you, Rey. Such a nice girl…” he cooed as Rey hoisted him off the stool.

Ben took over, wrapping an arm around the elderly man’s waist and walking him out the door. With Rey’s assistance, they got him buckled into the back seat. “Can you get him inside his house or do you need help?”

“Just get in,” Rey said, climbing in the driver’s seat.

Ben didn’t know if he wanted to be alone in the car with her on the way back, but he needed to do right by his patient so he got in the passenger’s seat and buckled up. Luckily for him, Rey did not try to talk to him on the way over and they managed to get Lor San Tekka into his bed without having a major fight.

The walk back to Rey’s car was silent, but at least she wasn’t biting his head off, and once they were back on the road, Rey offered to drop Ben off at home. “Um, that was really nice of you,” she finally spoke up once they were almost to the cabins.

“It’s my job,” Ben shrugged.

“Yeah, but he’s been to doctors and no one believed him. You did,” Rey argued.

“I just listened to the symptoms and then it was obvious so I made the diag--”

“Ben. Take the compliment,” Rey huffed.

“Fine. Thank you.”

“He was a pastor before, you know. He doesn’t drink. Never has. His wife died and he left the church and people just assumed he’d also started drinking,” Rey explained. “Sometimes people in this town just think the worst.”

Ben wasn’t sure what to say to that. He didn’t feel as though he’d done anything spectacular. As far as he was concerned, San Tekka’s previous doctors had just been lazy and dismissive. Ben was thorough if nothing else and that was the only reason he’d known what had happened.

They pulled up in front of the cabin and Rey put the car in park. She’d had the foresight to remember his takeout box of spaghetti and his stomach gave a thankful rumble as she handed it to him. “Listen. I’ll take the job as your receptionist. But only because you’re not a total dickhead.”

Ben nodded, choosing not to pick another fight. At some point, sooner rather than later, they’d need to discuss work appropriate clothing. And language. And attitude. But for now they’d reached some kind of amicable understanding and Ben was much too scared to breech it. “Goodnight, Rey.”

“Night, doc.” She gave him something between a wave and a salute and as soon as he closed the car door, she was peeling out of the driveway once more.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So when I had this idea, I wanted to kind of feature a new "patient" each chapter as Ben gets to know the townspeople. That being said, I have no medical training and everything here is the product of a quick google search. Medical professionals: don't roast me.
> 
> I've posted my update schedule on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/jeeaysee0925) so follow me if you want to know when I plan on updating this fic!


	3. Renegade

Chapter 3

When Ben woke the next day, he felt slightly better about small town life in Eureka. He could not say that it was going as smoothly as he’d imagined when he accepted the job, but things had taken a more positive turn in the past twenty-four hours -- he’d hired on a receptionist, he’d consulted on his first case and as he climbed out of bed, he remembered to duck and miss the beam he’d cracked his forehead on the previous day.

He made his way down from the loft and to the kitchen, pouring himself a cup of water and thinking about his to-do list: groceries, basic appliances and a thorough house cleaning. But first, he desperately needed some sort of vehicle. And as his stomach growled, he realized a nice hearty breakfast wouldn’t hurt either.

After showering quickly and getting dressed, he left his cabin, intent on finding Poe but instead running into Rey as she pulled her keys out of the back pocket of her teeny tiny jean shorts. Ben had trouble not looking, in fact he was  _ definitely _ staring at her legs and the way her hips swayed as she walked to her car. “Morning, doc,” she sang, amusement in her tone.

Ben lifted his eyes to see her grin as she slid a pair of sunglasses on. “Morning.” He made the unwise choice of continuing, “You’re not wearing  _ that _ to work, are you?”

“Sure am. Need a ride?” she asked as she climbed into her car.

Ben hesitated, itching with the desire to tell her to go inside and change. She could  _ not _ wear that to work. But then the thought of dealing with Poe’s idiocy first thing in the morning was powerful enough to keep his mouth shut as he climbed into the passenger seat.

“Going into the office this early?” Rey started her engine and immediately shut off the radio.

“Breakfast,” Ben said, and looked over at her. The jean shorts had crept up even higher when she sat and it now appeared that she was wearing denim panties.

“Like what you see?” she winked.

He rolled his eyes and commented as she steered her car down the long dirt driveway, “You can’t wear that to work.”

She stomped on the break, “Excuse me?”

Ben jerked forward, slamming his forehead against the dashboard. So much for saving himself the pain this morning. He sat back and rubbed at the rapidly swelling bump. “You can’t wear hot pants to a medical office.”

“First off, grandpa, no one calls them hot pants anymore. And secondly, I’m not working at your office this morning. I’m working at the bait shop.” She moved her foot to the gas pedal and peeled out down the hill.

“The bait shop…” Ben repeated. He knew that she worked nights at Trapper’s and he’d seen her stocking shelves in the hardware store the previous day. “Exactly how many jobs do you have?”

She shrugged, “Enough to keep me busy.” She turned onto Main Street and slowed the car, pulling up to the curb outside of Ben’s office. “Don’t worry. I’ll be by in a couple hours. I only help out at the bait shop until 9. All those anglers like to get out early so there’s only a rush first thing in the morning.”

He nodded as he climbed out of the car, “Thanks for the ride.”

“Anytime, doc.”

He stepped back as she drove away and turned to head towards the diner. He’d been thinking about the eggs benedict he’d had yesterday from the moment he woke up. When the bell above the door jangled, Jessika Pava skipped from behind the counter, “Benny!”

He cringed at the nickname bestowed upon him by Poe and corrected, “Just Ben is fine.”

“Come sit at the counter,” Jess ignored him and tugged on his arm. She pushed him onto one of the stools and placed a menu in front of him, standing much too close, and blinked her eyelashes at him. “I missed you.”

Ben blushed, keeping his eyes glued to the menu and wondering how someone who barely knew him could possibly ‘miss’ him. He wasn’t fond of the attention, nor of her overt flirtation. “Oh uh… that’s nice?”   
  


“Benny!” a familiar voice called and Ben didn’t think he would ever feel so relieved to see Poe Dameron. “Give him some space,” Poe scolded Jessika and nudged her out of the way to sit on the stool beside Ben. 

Today, Poe was dressed in a pair of flannel pajama pants and a t-shirt with a cartoon picture of a bighorn sheep that said: I’m so horny. As stupid as the shirt was, especially for an elected official to be wearing in public, he was glad to see the other man actually wearing a shirt. “Went to your cabin to see if you wanted breakfast, but you weren’t there.”

“Rey gave me a ride to town this morning,” Ben explained, sending Jess a smile that made her giggle as she set a cup of coffee in front of him.

“Oh, so you made up, huh?” Poe grinned. “What did you do to her anyway? She gets along with everyone.”

“I didn’t do anything to her. Not on purpose anyway,” Ben grumbled.

Poe snickered, “Sure, sure.”

“Anyway, I find it hard to believe she gets along with everyone. She’s very… difficult.”

“Is that a big city way of saying she’s a bitch?” Poe laughed before taking a long drink from the glass.

“No,” he said, struggling to think of a better way of describing her. “She’s a passionate person.”

“Yes, she is,” Poe agreed with a grin. “Anyway, I’m glad you guys made up since you’re neighbors and all.”

“And co-workers now too, I suppose,” Ben commented as Jess came to take his order.

“Oh, that’s great!” Poe said excitedly. “I know she’s a little rough around the edges, but you won’t find a harder worker.”

“Apparently. I don’t know when she finds the time to sleep,” Ben shook his head. “This will be at least the fifth job I’ve seen her working since I came to town.”

“Ah, she’ll be fine,” Poe waved his hand dismissively. “She’s always looking for a little extra cash.”

“What for?” Ben asked curiously.

“I don’t know,” Poe shrugged. “I’ve never asked. Everyone just knows she’s saving money.” 

Ben thought it was strange that all these people had grown up together, lived in the same small town their entire life and never once had anyone thought to ask Rey why she was working several jobs and squirreling money away. To him, that seemed like something you would know about someone if you cared. Even in his own dysfunctional family, they’d cared enough to know such basic things about one another. “Hmm,” was all he said, not knowing what else to say that wouldn’t be judgemental.

Poe changed the subject easily, saving Ben from the awkward task. “Hey, Kay wanted me to ask you to come to dinner tonight. I suppose she wants someone to reminisce with about New York.”

“Oh, sure,” Ben agreed. He wasn’t necessarily looking forward to spending time with Poe, but he enjoyed Kaydel’s company and it would be nice to talk to someone who understood about the finer things in life.

“Great, I’ll tell her you said yes. She’s been making manicotti all morning. Whatever that is,” Poe shrugged.

Ben rolled his eyes but was saved from conversation as Jess set his eggs benedict in front of him, making sure to bat her eyelashes and pout her lips once more before leaving. He let Poe carry the conversation until he’d finished and then paid, citing his need to get to work as an excuse to get away from Poe’s chattering.

“I’ll stop by and see how you’re doing later, buddy,” Poe promised, waving as Ben left the diner and headed back towards his office.

“You must be Benjamin Solo,” A strong female voice called, stepping in front of him on the sidewalk. The khaki button up, green pants and brown campaign hat that she wore made her instantly recognizable as the town sheriff.

“Yes, Ma’am,” he extended a hand. “You can call me Ben. Or Dr. Solo…”

“Hmm,” she shook his hand. “Strong handshake. Good manners. I like that.” She seemed to be sizing him up as she stepped back, “I’m Amilyn Holdo. Town Sheriff.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Sheriff Holdo,” Ben said politely.

“No need to be so formal, Ben,” she pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket. “Just came for a little chat.”

“O...kay,” Ben said. “Do you want to come to my office? Or we could go get coffee somewhere?”

“No, no. This won’t take long. I was just wondering if you were interested in having multiple income streams,” she began.

Ben blinked, not understanding. “Um, excuse me?”

“I have an empowering business opportunity for you,” she explained and handed him the brochure she’d taken out of her pocket. 

Ben looked at the brochure, something about selling herbal supplements and looked back at the town sheriff, blinking in confusion. “What is this?”

“All you need is a one time startup cost for the price of products and then you have unlimited earning potential,” she said, opening the brochure and pointing at a picture of a smiling woman in a business suit. “And the products are amazing. I lost twenty pounds in two weeks.”

Ben raised an eyebrow, “Twenty pounds in two weeks? That’s not possible. You’d be anemic and probably in the hospital with gallstones.”

She narrowed her eyes, “It’s true. I swear.”

He was trying hard not to laugh at the ridiculous claim or at the fact that the town sheriff was involved in this. “Is this a pyramid scheme?”

Immediately, Holdo’s expression became cold. “It’s not a pyramid. It’s an inverted triangle and we prefer multi-level marketing.”

“Uh-huh,” Ben scoffed, handing the brochure back. “Well, I’m not interested.”

“I see,” Holdo replied, “Then I’ll have to write you a ticket.”

“What?” Ben cried incredulously. “A ticket for what?”

“Jaywalking,” Holdo pulled out her ticketing pad and wrote something down and then tore it off, handing it to him.

“There are no designated crosswalks!” Ben argued, refusing to take the ticket.

“You’re supposed to cross at the street corners.”

“Says who?” Ben ground out, giving her an incredulous look. He was being ticketed because he refused to join the sheriff’s cooky pyramid scheme, plain and simple.

“Bylaw 26.1.3:  Every pedestrian crossing a roadway may only do so at street corners and must first yield to all oncoming traffic,” she quoted.

Ben narrowed his eyes, trying to deduce if she was full of it or if he’d actually broken a law. Holdo narrowed hers in return, refusing to back down. Finally, with a huff, he snatched the ticket out of her hand. “Fine.”

“I’ll leave this with you,” Holdo handed him the brochure. “Perhaps you’ll change your mind.”

Ben crumpled the brochure and shot back, “Not a chance.”   
  


Holdo glared at the crumpled brochure, “Be careful with that. Wouldn’t want another ticket for littering, would we?”

Ben didn’t bother with a reply as he turned on his heel and headed for his doctor’s office. He was still grumbling to himself and debating calling his mother and having her lawyers look into the legitimacy of the ticket just to stick one to the sheriff. 

He flicked on the lights and turned the sign to open and then got to work trying to fix the coffee pot he’d found in the breakroom. When the door finally opened an hour later, he looked up from where he was seated on the floor with a disassembled coffee pot, to find Rey. She was now wearing a pair of blue jeans and a navy blue henley two sizes too big on her, but it was her horrified facial expression that caught his attention most. “What did you do?”

“I was trying to fix it,” Ben said sheepishly, holding up the screwdriver as if that was proof.

“By breaking it?” Rey cried incredulously. “Give me that.” She sat down on the floor across from him and yanked the screwdriver out of his hand.

“Do you know what you’re doing?” he asked suspiciously as she picked up a piece and started screwing it back together.

“Better than you do,” she shot back, making quick work of getting it all assembled. 

“It was already broken, you know,” Ben said defensively. It was a wound to his manly pride that Rey was rapidly putting back together something that had taken him an hour to disassemble.

She rolled her eyes at him and said, “You made it worse.”

“How do you know? You didn’t see it before!” he argued.

“Because I can see the problem is just that the wires are frayed here on the cord. All you need is electrical tape and it’ll be working just fine,” Rey explained, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“Well how was I supposed to know that?” Ben grumbled.    
  
“If you can’t tell just by looking, then what made you think taking it apart was a good idea?” Rey scolded. She reached for her purse and pulled out a roll of black tape and taped up the cord.

“Well excuse me,” Ben shot back and he knew it was immature even before it left his mouth.

“Oh grow up,” Rey said, handing his screwdriver back. “You’re just mad a girl fixed it.”

“No, I’m mad  _ you _ fixed it,” he amended. “It’s got nothing to do with you being a girl and everything to do with you being you.”

“Oh really?” She picked up the coffee pot and raised it above her head, making her intention clear. “Maybe I’ll just break it then.”

“Don’t you dare,” he said, through his teeth as he narrowed his eyes. “Unless you want to buy me a new one.”

“Kids, kids,” a voice scolded, and when they looked up, Poe was leaning against the doorway, watching them with an amused expression.

Rey lowered the coffee pot and set it on the ground before standing up and dusting off her bottom, “I was just helping Dr. Solo fix his coffee maker.”

“Is  _ that _ what you were doing?” Poe laughed, his amusement clear in his face. “It looked like you were about to throw it at him.”

“No… at the floor,” Rey mumbled sheepishly. 

Ben stood too, placing his screwdriver on the counter and pretending to be busy shuffling papers around on the surface. He hated that he’d gotten involved in such a childish fight and that he’d been  _ caught _ on top of that.

“I just came to check on you and see how you two are doing,” Poe said with a grin as he eyed the way Rey and Ben were refusing to look at one another. “Maybe I need to hire a babysitter.”

Rey rolled her eyes at him, “Shut up, Dameron.”

Poe laughed and turned to the doctor, “Any patients today?”

Ben shook his head, “Nope. Mr. Tekka is coming by this afternoon to get his prescription and then I’ll close up and head over to your house for dinner.”

“Great. Kay sent me out to get wine,” he held up a bottle. “Pinot noir. No idea what that is so I just grabbed the first thing on the shelf at the rip and snatch.”

Ben blinked, “Pinot noir is a red wine.”

“Okay,” Poe said stupidly.

“The one you’re holding is white,” Ben pointed out.

“Meh, wine’s wine,” he shrugged. “I’ll see you tonight, buddy.”

As soon as the door was closed, Ben and Rey said in unison, “What a moron.” The look of pure amusement they shared was enough to make their earlier argument forgettable and Rey got to work sorting through the papers. “Poe is going to have a computer sent later this week, so I was thinking that we could start getting all the patient files in the system during down time. Are you comfortable with that?”

“Yeah sure, I’m good with computers,” Rey nodded and although Ben had his doubts, he decided not to press the issue and risk another fight when they’d just reached peaceful ground.

They worked in silence for a while before Rey asked, “Do you like Eureka so far?”

“Um, I’m going to choose not to answer and avoid a fight,” Ben said uneasily.

Rey snickered, “It's okay if you don’t like it. I don’t like it either. First chance I get, I’m out of here.”

Ben wanted to know more, but he didn’t want to be nosey and he wasn’t sure how to approach any topic without setting off Rey’s anger. Maybe someday they’d reach a point in their friendship -- if that’s what you could call it -- that talking about these things would be comfortable. He decided to change the subject, “I met the sheriff today.”

“Holdo?”

“Yeah,” Ben shook his head. “She’s not your friend, right?”

“Hell no,” Rey said. “She’s hated me ever since I was in high school. Said I’m ‘no-good’ whatever that means.”

They both knew what it meant, and although it had occurred to him that Rey was the definition of white trash, it wasn’t right for an adult to tell a teenager that they were no-good. He thought back to all the times his father had insulted him and thought that maybe he had something in common with Rey. “Well, then I won’t feel bad saying that she’s a bitch.”

Rey grinned and Ben noted how cute she was when she smiled, all toothy and squinted eyes. “A total bitch,” she agreed.

“She tried to get me to join her pyramid scheme,” Ben shuddered.

“You didn’t say no, did you?” Rey asked, her voice sounding worried.

“I did. Then she gave me a ticket for jaywalking,” Ben sighed, pulling it out of his back pocket and waving it at her.

“Oh, she’s going to make your life hell until you join,” Rey said, shaking her head. 

“I’m not going to join,” Ben argued.

“You’re going to pay way more in tickets than you would if you just bought the damn supplements from her,” Rey shook her head and warned him.

“I’m a doctor. I’m not going to be caught dead endorsing her bullshit weight loss supplements.” Not only would it be embarrassing, but he could get his license revoked if anyone got sick from the pills. Sparing himself from Holdo’s wrath was not an equal trade-off for such a career-ending move. As far as he was concerned, this was blackmail. He would  _ definitely _ be contacting his mother’s lawyers.

“That’s exactly why she’ll stop at nothing to get you,” Rey pointed out. “Everyone will want them if a doctor says that they work.”

Ben scoffed and shook his head, “Never gonna happen.”

Rey smirked at his stubbornness and said, “So other than a run-in with the town boss bitch, are you having any other troubles?”

“I need a car,” Ben said. “I’d like to be able to get to town easily. I need to be able to get groceries.”

“I know someone who could sell you a car,” Rey began.

“Really? Great, maybe I can give them a call this afternoon,” Ben said excitedly. “Thanks, Rey.”

“Uh, he’s not a nice guy. How about I take you over there after work?” Ben could tell that there was something that she wasn’t telling him, something she was worried about, but he didn’t press the issue as he agreed to the help.

Lor San Tekka came in at just after three and Ben gave him his prescription and walked him through a nutrition plan before making the old man promise to come back in a week so Ben could check on him.

Rey was waiting at the door as the old man left, “Bye, Lor! Take care, okay?”

“You too, Rey,” he smiled. “Take care of the doctor, okay? He’s a good kid.”

Ben blushed and watched as Rey walked the old man out. When she came back in she asked, “You ready to get some wheels, doc?”

Ben nodded and turned off the lights, following her out and locking the doors. After getting into her car, she turned to him and said, “Let me do the negotiating okay? He’s going to try to rip you off.”

To Ben, it sounded like a typical used car salesman and he thought that he could handle it himself, but Rey  _ was _ doing him a favor here. He needed to learn not to pick a fight with her every time he felt like it. “Sure.”

She turned on the radio, and Ben was glad to not have the added pressure of maintaining friendly conversation. Something about Rey made his blood boil easier and he’d have to examine that at some point, but now was not the time. 

He watched as she veered off onto a narrow dirt road as they passed through a trailer park. He’d only seen them on tv, but in person it was a much more depressing sight. Knowing that people were  _ living  _ in these tiny rectangular units, some with broken out windows and doors hanging off hinges, made him squirm uncomfortably. Yes, his childhood hadn’t been perfect, but at least he’d had a home with a proper roof over his head.

“I can practically  _ feel _ your judgement right now,” Rey laughed.

Ben blushed, “Did you grow up here?”

“No,” Rey shook her head. “Why would you assume that?”

Ben squirmed again, feeling caught in a trap. Yes, he’d assumed she’d lived here because of her… lack of class. “I just, um. I didn’t mean…”

Rey laughed, “Relax.” She pulled up in front of a large house with the roof caving in and several junk cars on the lawn. “I grew up here.”

“This is even worse,” Ben mumbled, eyeing the peeling paint and overgrown weeds. If this building had been in New York, it would have been condemned and torn down. 

Rey ignored him and climbed out of the car as a short fat man stumbled out of the house, “Unkar,” she greeted coldly.

“Girl,” Unkar spat. “What do you want?”

Rey looked stiff and uncomfortable and Ben didn’t think he’d ever seen her look quite so… timid. “My friend Ben here is looking for a car.”

Unkar turned to look at Ben and scoffed before turning back to Rey, “Spreading your legs for anyone with a little money, aren’t you?”

Rey clenched her jaw, “I’m bringing  _ you _ money. But I can take him down to Whitefish.”

Ben watched the conversation with horror on behalf of Rey. If she’d grown up here, that meant that Plutt was her father and he was talking to her like this. “Come on, Rey…”

She shot him a look to shut him up and Unkar brought his attention back to Ben, “You’re looking for a car, huh?” He took a few steps off his porch and pointed to a rusted out cadillac. “This one is a deal. Only $1,000.”

“That one is a piece of shit,” Rey said. “I want the foxbody mustang.”

Unkar narrowed his eyes, “$4000.”

“$1500,” Rey said. “I’m the only one who knows how to get the engine running and unless by some miracle a collector comes by, that thing will rust out before you ever sell it.”

“You bitch,” Unkar spat. “I should smack--”

“Fine. Let’s go, Ben,” Rey said, stomping towards her car.

Ben nodded, still too stunned to actually say anything. 

“Wait! JANNAH!” Unkar bellowed and a young girl with bushy hair pushed back by a headband bounced out of the house. “Bring me the keys for the Mustang.”

Ben watched the girl, noticing immediately the dark marks across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. He said nothing as she nodded and shuffled back into the house. When she returned with the keys, Ben took a step closer to Plutt and pulled out his wallet. There was a blank check tucked inside and Ben quickly filled it out -- inconspicuously examining Jannah from the corner of his eye. He handed the check over to Plutt and Plutt dropped the key into Ben’s hand.

  
He returned to Rey at her car, and watched as she opened her glovebox and pulled out a piece of metal. “Is the car actually running?” he asked her carefully.

“It is now,” she held up the little cylindrical piece and stomped to the car, popping the hood open. “I stole the spark plug years ago.” She inserted it and turned to Ben, “It should drive fine now.”

Ben gave her a crooked smile, impressed that she’d screwed her awful father out of money with such a simple solution. “Thanks, Rey.”

“No problem,” she said, shutting the hood and wiping her hands on her jeans. “Follow me back to Poe’s?”

Ben nodded and got into the car. It started easy, and he waited until Rey was in her car before pulling out behind her and following her home. The car seemed to run perfectly, and Ben really only needed it to get to and from town. For the price, he couldn’t be happier. He knew he owed Rey for this and would have to think of some way to repay her.

When they arrived back at Poe’s, the mayor was on his porch and waved his hands excitedly. “Nice wheels, Benny!” he shouted as Ben parked his car next to Rey’s.

“Thanks again, Rey,” Ben said, patting the hood of the car. He’d grown up in the city and had never seen the point of owning a car, despite having his license. Though the car wasn’t perfect, he’d paid for it himself and it was the first large purchase he’d ever made on his own.

“No problem, doc. I’ll just expect you to repay the favor someday,” Rey said. 

Ben shook his head, and teased, “Of course. Time to get ready for your next job?”

“Yep. Have fun at Poe’s!” She said and Ben thought it had to be intentional -- the way she wiggled her hips as she climbed the stairs to draw his attention to her ass. When she looked over her shoulder with a grin, he knew that he was right. And that he’d been caught. “Bye, Doc!”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still can't believe that this fic won the poll, but here you go... here's the chapter you all wanted. I had to cut a couple scenes for length, but next chapter we'll get the dinner with Poe and Dr. Solo's next patient (who was introduced this chapter).


End file.
